


stubborn and genius and teenage and foolish

by Basingstoke



Category: Smallville
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-01-22
Updated: 2002-01-22
Packaged: 2017-10-03 14:31:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basingstoke/pseuds/Basingstoke





	stubborn and genius and teenage and foolish

Lex sidled into the room smirking, looking not unlike his father after laying a corporate trap. His father would never wear black jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, though.

"Lex," she said, slapping her palm against her desk, "come here."

"Yes, Mother." He crossed the room, obviously trying not to smile but failing utterly. His ears glittered and she knew what he had done.

She reached up and pinched his cheeks, making him wrinkle his nose, then folded his ears forward to look at them. "I see." A steel ring with a burnished purple bead pierced each lobe.

"Done by the best piercer in town." He gave her his most charming smile.

"You realize this is completely unacceptable."

"You have your ears pierced." He flicked her earring, her favorite onyx teardrops.

"You're not me."

"*Dad* has his ears pierced." He raised his eyebrow.

She raised hers back. "Only one, and he hasn't worn an earring since before you were born."

"So...if I only wear studs, once the holes heal, that's an acceptable compromise."

"If there is to be a compromise, which there is not, since *you* are the son and *I* am the parent," she said, pinching Lex's cheek again. "Don't think I've forgotten changing your diaper."

"Dad never changed my diaper." His eyes narrowed a little.

"You're not talking to your father."

Lex stopped and regrouped, drumming his fingers against his thighs. "It's impermanent. I'm eighteen. I won't join the business until I graduate."

"Better. Argue in that direction."

Lex rolled his eyes. "You *know* I have a tattoo, Mom. You know I'm queer, for God's sake. You know that doesn't make any difference to anything."

"*You* know that you need to turn over a new leaf, especially since you're now eighteen. No more drugs, no more fights, no more drinking. Nothing that *looks* like you've been drinking or drugging or fighting. Nothing that embarasses the family."

Lex's mood shifted from mischievous to irritated in a flash. "I *wish* that Dad would just *lighten up*--" He broke away and turned his back, running his hands over his bare scalp.

"You won't wish that later." She stood up. "Lex."

"Mom." He let his hands drop.

"You never showed me your tattoo." She'd seen the bandage when he stumbled in, drunk and giggling, two years ago. Never the final result.

"I...oh. It's on my back." He gestured. She tugged him closer and lifted up the sweatshirt.

She'd forgotten about the dreadful scar on his back from when that hooligan had stabbed him, and the burn on his side from setting himself on fire with his cigarette while drugged. She hadn't forgotten the incidents, of course, but it was startling to see the evidence of her son's misbehavior still etched onto his body.

They could seal the records, but never seal away his memory, no matter how much she wanted to. She pushed the sweatshirt up past his shoulderblades and looked at his tattoo. "Lex. *Really.*" It was a biohazard symbol, set between the blades and over his spine.

"I still like it."

"Of course you do." She let the sweatshirt drop and squeezed his shoulders. Her son, every inch of him, stubborn and genius and teenage and foolish. "Go talk to your father. *Convince* him that holes in your ears are the thing to do. Remember, start strong, end strong..."

"And never back down. Yes, Mom, I know."

"Go." She patted his cheek and sent him into Lionel's den.

*


End file.
